FOREX-Dollar near 9-month low vs sterling, Aussie jumps

By Satomi Noguchi
TOKYO, Aug 6 (Reuters) - The dollar was steady near a nine-month low against the pound on Thursday ahead of policy decisions by the Bank of England and European Central Bank, while the Australian dollar jumped after data showing unexpected gains in employment.
Thursday's data surprised the market by showing Australia added 32,200 jobs in July, far better than forecasts for a 20,000 fall in employment, while the jobless rate held steady at 5.8 percent, adding to signs of an economic recovery.
The strength in the Aussie was tempered by a drop in full-time jobs and falling Chinese shares, but the market took these numbers as increasing the likelihood of an early rise in interest rates.[ID:nSYD536208]
In contrast, the New Zealand dollar fell after data showed the country's jobless rate climbed more than expected to 6.0 percent for the second quarter, a nine-year high, backing views its central bank will keep interest rates at a record low well into 2010. [ID:nWEL524980]
"The market cannot find a factor which could break the uptrend in the Aussie," said Hideki Amikura, deputy general manager of the forex section at Nomura Trust Bank.
"But that said, tomorrow's U.S. jobs report is expected to show weak numbers which may be the potential catalyst to dampen economic recovery hopes, and reverse recent gains in assets including stocks and yen crosses," Amikura added.
The Australian dollar jumped as high as $0.8462 on the Reuters dealing system, a touch closer to an over 10-month high of $0.8471 hit earlier this week, before trading at $0.8414, nearly flat from late New York trade. Traders said the Aussie's gains were cut as China stocks slid 3 percent .SSEC on liquidity worries.[nBJD001031]
The New Zealand dollar extended earlier falls to $0.6700 NZD=D4, down 0.5 percent on the day and further away from its 10-month peak of $0.6764 struck the day before.
BOE AND ECB EYED
The dollar fell versus the euro on Wednesday to its lowest point since December after data showing U.S. private employers cut more jobs last month but at the slowest pace since October, offering a glimmer of hope the labour market is stabilising.
Sterling held firm near a more than nine-month high against the dollar above $1.70 struck the previous day ahead of the BoE's expected decision and announcement on interest rates and its quantitative easing programme later on Thursday. Continued...